JimbbobW1977 said:

How can the fast Fords not be very inspiring when they are highly rated?

Ford make some very good cars at present, and not so good ones such as the 500 Based KA and Eco Sport.

Yes they haven't got an exclusive badge on the front however the product itself is generally good.

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I agree with you that Ford make some very good cars but good and inspiring are two completely different things. Its a difficult thing to explain but it's the quirks of a car that make it feel special. All fords are clones, you can get out of one and into another and you probably won't notice the difference, which is fine if you just want to go from A-B but if you want something that makes the journey an event in itself then that's not good enough. You'll find that most of the people who love driving will drive non mainstream cars. I drive a 500TA which is neither fast nor particularly good in the handling department but I wouldn't swop it for the best Focus out there. It's the way it makes someone feel that matters.

I can see where your coming from - but for example Vauxhall make the Adam which can be different to each one however it's terrible.

At the end of the day, I want a car that isn't full of quirks when I just want to get home from work.

I enjoy driving though with the amount of other incompetent road users on the road now that's diminishing - another story.

I'm happy with my clone as it does most things well. Yes it hasn't got a desirable badge on the front but it's a very good car.

I have driven a number of 500's and they are the better car Fiat make. However again the Fiat badge itself is hardly inspirational, something that Fiat do not help when churning out average cars - anyone for a 500LW?

JimbbobW1977 said:

I can see where your coming from - but for example Vauxhall make the Adam which can be different to each one however it's terrible.

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Not driven one yet but I got the impression they were aimed at new/young drivers and are designed down to a budget.

JimbbobW1977 said:

At the end of the day, I want a car that isn't full of quirks when I just want to get home from work.

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Which is why Ford sell so many cars as they 'Do what they say on the tin' unfortunately there's no passion involved.

JimbbobW1977 said:

I enjoy driving though with the amount of other incompetent road users on the road now that's diminishing - another story.

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Are you admitting to being an incompetant driver? . However I get your meaning and can't agree more with you (although if you have the time you can find some good unoccupied back roads).

JimbbobW1977 said:

I'm happy with my clone as it does most things well. Yes it hasn't got a desirable badge on the front but it's a very good car.

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Horses for courses, I've driven my fair share of Euro boxes because they were doing a job.

JimbbobW1977 said:

I have driven a number of 500's and they are the better car Fiat make. However again the Fiat badge itself is hardly inspirational, something that Fiat do not help when churning out average cars - anyone for a 500LW?

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the 500L and LW are products of European legilstion which is a shame.

I was quite happy with my Punto, but really don't miss it. It'd gone from an average of 5000 miles a year with questionable service history to 10,000 with good intentions. Unfortunately, it ate headgaskets!! 3 in 18 months (half my period of ownership). I got shot of it to a mate (with 3rd HG gone and a gearbox that whined louder than a toddler who's been told no) who was going to break it - until his Mum found out he intended to use her drive

2nd, and current car is a Focus.
I do like it! Comfortable, goes well, handles well and I like look of it. It's a more "technical" feel to drive compared to the cheeky, chuckable Punto. But that's why I like it - that feeling of being in control of where the car goes and when (don't get me wrong, it'll happily warn you when you push too hard).

Not gonna lie, the Ford Owners Club is also pretty good (that and this are my 2 favourite forums)

SeanW said:

I was quite happy with my Punto, but really don't miss it. It'd gone from an average of 5000 miles a year with questionable service history to 10,000 with good intentions. Unfortunately, it ate headgaskets!! 3 in 18 months (half my period of ownership). I got shot of it to a mate (with 3rd HG gone and a gearbox that whined louder than a toddler who's been told no) who was going to break it - until his Mum found out he intended to use her drive

2nd, and current car is a Focus.
I do like it! Comfortable, goes well, handles well and I like look of it. It's a more "technical" feel to drive compared to the cheeky, chuckable Punto. But that's why I like it - that feeling of being in control of where the car goes and when (don't get me wrong, it'll happily warn you when you push too hard).

Not gonna lie, the Ford Owners Club is also pretty good (that and this are my 2 favourite forums)

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I have a MK3 Titanium X Estate 2.0tdci 163 - I got it for a very good price, it's massively specced, cheaper to run than my GP was and very good to drive.

I like my GP when I first got it, but lost all faith in it eventually.

I was never keen on the MK3 when it came out, however what swayed me was, My GP was being repaired after being side swiped by a bus and I was given one as a courtesy car.

I looked at a number of other cars, as I wanted an estate because of the dog, but settled on it because of everything it offered.

On a side note - it was amusing trying to put my dog in the boot of a 500!! I had to fold the back seats down (I know it's designed for space)

Although i have had a number of Fiat's in the past and have the GP still on fleet, the car I really miss most was my 1986 E28 535iSE - a cracking car.

Behind that would be my E28 525e.

Both long gone now.

The Tjet was a good wee car and probably i shoul have kept that one as well

Sorry, it may not be the answer a Fiat Forum is looking for but the question was asked......

I miss my diesel 406 so much, with it's mercedes turbo and home made fuel pump, my favourite daily driver of all time

Triumph 2000, 1974

Smooth, quiet, comfortable, long-legged. I used it mostly on long trips over 13 years, having bought it for a bargain at 3 years old. Handled well and performed well, 35 mpg. I have driven quite a few modern cars and they do not seem to have improved much over 40 years, other than the emissions side. I only sold it when the window rubbers started leaking and could not get replacements.

It had 4 gears and overdrive (effectively 6 gears). On outer suburban roads you could stay a lot of the time in 3rd gear, switching back and forth the overdrive, using the switch in the top of the gear lever.

Re: Triumph 2000, 1974

The car I miss the most has to be my Alfa GT. It looked stunning in red and the black leather interior was just so inviting.

I will get a 3.2 V6 Version one day as that will be classic in years to come

My most missed car is my 2002 Audi S3. I took it from standard 225bhp to 360bhp I put my heart and soul into it (and all the contents of my wallet ?) but I didn't have kids at the time so I see it as money well spent. I wish I could afford another one but whenever I need to spend money on a car I hear the same thing "daaad can I have......" Lol.

I think I'd quite like to have my Range Rover vogue efi back, I only had it a few months and sold it due to a house and job move so I never got to really bond with it but it was a great bit of kit.

1968 VW type 2 earlybay..!
For me, modern cars just does not have the same soul to them as classic automobiles.

Car i miss the most is this one



i never thought id miss it and was glad to see hte back of it when i sold it, was the worse car ive ever owned.

When i drove it when it worked though, it was amazing

These are the cars I miss.

The Daewoo Matiz was my 1st car, which I learnt to drive in. I'd originally wanted a Punto for my 1st car, but I found a good Matiz before I found a good Punto. As a result of that car however, I have always had a soft spot for the Daewoo Matiz, and smile to meself when I see them on the road.

The grey Punto Mk2b was my 2nd car. I had it nearly 4 years before it was going to need money spending on it, so I traded it in for the Grande I'm lucky enough to own now.

Strictly speaking, the orange Punto Mk2 wasn't actually mine: it belonged to my parents for 8.5 years, and was the car that opened my eyes to Fiats. If they hadn't have bought that when I was 15, I probably would've ended up becoming 1 of those people who sang the praises of dullsville fiestas. It's no understatement to say that was the car that saved me, lol! Thanks to that Punto, I ended up becoming a Punto owner meself, and have so far enjoyed over 5 years of stylish, characterful motoring, with no end in sight. I was genuinely saddened last year when they traded it in for a bland mk2 corsa, and I still absolutely love the Punto Mk2 and Mk2b to this day.

I love my stilo but gotto admit I miss my old car

The one I wish I still had was a Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS. I've mentioned it before on here and I still miss the old girl.

Although outwardly pretty standard, apart from the four Cibie spots, well it was the late '70s, she had a pair of Weber twin chokes, 40 DCOEs if memory serves with a pair of fast road cams, gas flowed inlet manifold, free flow exhaust manifold, big bore exhaust and raised compression ratio.

Underneath there were four Koni shocks and some stiffer springs, along with a thicker anti-roll bar and a front strut brace. Oh, and four Minilite magnesium (look) alloys.

Sadly she met a sticky end in a transport yard when a fork lift ran into her.....forks first. The insurance assessor looked at the damage and then just happened to mention all the modifications that weren't listed on the proposal form. I was lucky to get a payout that would have just about covered a standard car, so about half what I'd spent on her.

I later found out that the assessor had arranged for his brother who owned a garage to buy it and it later went back on the road.

As for cars I nearly bought, I think the late model Jensen Interceptor is the one I lament missing out on the most, although how the hell I was going to afford to put petrol in it I've no idea. It looked superb in light metallic blue paint with cream vinyl roof and cream leather seats with lambswool inserts. Just quite how a big GT car with massive Chrysler V8 would have handled on modified Austin Westminster underpinnings I'm not sure.

Just come across this thread.
I could list loads that I have driven, either as my own or company vehicles that were just plain anonymous and bland:

Mk 4 Cortinas
Austin Maestro and Montego
Sierra Sapphire
Granada 2.0L

Ones that were much more interesting:

Omega 2.5V6 (lovely engine)
Vauxhall Firenza
Vauxhal Cavalier Mk2 (I think, I didn't have it long)

But when we get to the ones I wish I still had:

Mk1 Escort (it was a rot box but look at the prices!)

BMW e38 728i- a beautiful car which I only sold recently, but needed more money spending on it than I have got to spare.

Subaru Impreza Turbo (classic shape,99 model with big daft rear wing!)

But the one I really wish I still had...

Vauxhall Chevette GLS. Bright red. Only 1256cc but fantastic rear wheel drive chassis, very pretty with nice standard alloys and very practical.
Very very rare nowadays and as I owned that as a young single lad, mine saw lots of action - in every sense! My favourite

A 1967 Volvo P1800S - a red one.
(like the one Roger Moore drove in "the saint", but red, not white, and mine was a Swedish built "S" version not one of the earlier badly put together ones built by Jensen in the UK)
I had it 1985-1990...
A great looking car, and one that would cruise at 80mph all day in absolute comfort. Unfortunately it had to go as I was doing over 2000 miles every month and it was destroying it... Old cars take a lot of looking after when you're doing that sort of mileage...
Although I do believe that one of them once held the world record for the most miles ever on one car, clocking over 3 million miles...
Similar to this one - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Volvo-P1800.jpg
I still have a photo of it in my wallet with my then girlfriend, now wife, standing next to it...

I don't miss anything, because I just keep them....!!
According to my wife, it's getting a bit out of hand now...
Anyway, I have good memories touring Europe, from Sweden till France, Germany, UK, etc. in my: brown metalic 1979 Chevrolet Malibu Landau Coupe, 5.0L V-8, two door, 3 speed automatic incl. sports options...
Sold it in 1993 due to a bad trans, and to make way for a Pontiac Firebird Formula 350, which I still own today..

Peter Pick-Up said:

I don't miss anything, because I just keep them....!!
According to my wife, it's getting a bit out of hand now...
Anyway, I have good memories touring Europe, from Sweden till France, Germany, UK, etc. in my: brown metalic 1979 Chevrolet Malibu Landau Coupe, 5.0L V-8, two door, 3 speed automatic incl. sports options...
Sold it in 1993 due to a bad trans, and to make way for a Pontiac Firebird Formula 350, which I still own today..

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What's your current fleet?